Stronger Together
by Vulcan Halps
Summary: [Broken Arrow] A look at the last scene of the movie.


Everything was becoming a blur; the scenery whipping by the train. And the chopper pilot appeared out of nowhere brandishing a gun in Hale's face. She kicked the propeller knocking the gun from his grip and giving Hale the upper hand. Hale twisted the pilot's arm behind his back slammed his face into the metal. But the pilot grabbed Hale and they fell. "No," she shouted, searching the edge of the train, as if she could actually find him let, alone help him.

This was it Terry knew. This was how she was going to die. Admittedly, she'd known this was a bad idea almost from the beginning. But she had been helpful. Hale wouldn't have got this far without her, even if he'd wanted her to head for the phone.

Hearing voices, Terry cocked the pistol and took aim. Now that Hale gone she had to stop Deakins herself. With the element of surprise, she could get Deakins and hope that he had kept his plan to himself. Just as she could see the tops of their head, a hand grabbed her arm and dragged her to the edge of the train.

...x...

Pain sliced through his shoulder as Hale struggled to find purchase beneath the train. After slipping a few times, Hale pulled himself up onto a low platform. He paused a moment to catch his breath as he listened for Terry above. Terry, the intrepid park ranger. Without her he never would have found Deakins to begin with. Hell, he would've been shot down by the helicopter or lost the middle of Utah nowhere.

He had the knowhow; she had the pluck. He heard her gun click above him and maneuvered out enough to grab her, pulling her beneath the train with him. She struggled for just a moment, but calmed after he shushed her. Overhead Deakins and at least three others were discussing leaving on the sabotaged chopper and catching him.

They still needed to come up with a way to disable the nuke and remove Deak from the picture. Hale almost chuckled to himself. When had he and Terry become they? This morning she aimed her gun at him—twice—put a knife to his throat and tried to arrest him. Now she was ready to die to help him bring down his former friend. It had already been a long day.

He shook his head. She was willing to risk her neck almost from the beginning as long as he was honest with her. Though being honest had taken a little while for him, she still trusted him. She gave him her gun when they were chased down by the chopper and jumped to distract them while he took the shot. She'd followed him onto a truck that was carrying nukes, even though he gave her an out. She could have gone to the phone. Instead he remembered his surprised amusement as she jumped onto the Humvee next to him.

She'd driven them to the mine. And even though she'd begun to panic when he activated the bomb, she trusted him to keep them safe. He'd almost lost that trust when he went after Deakins. But unarmed she'd held her own against an automatic. He only helped out in the end. But of course she was the first to ask if he was okay.

When they got stuck in the mine, she remembered the river. He would have blown up with the first nuke, but she found a way out. A freezing underground river and they survived—them and those beautiful butterflies. If it hadn't been for the explosion that moment would have been perfect. If it hadn't been for the explosion that moment wouldn't have happened. He got to hold her to keep her warm, show her the surviving butterflies and hear her laugh. He liked her laugh and he remembered that Fred was a dog.

And then they got separated. The boat—he wished he would have had time to steal it. Or maybe he shouldn't have come up with the idea after all. But then he had to admit, he pushed Wilkens as much as he did because of Terry. He needed to get her back. And while he hadn't liked worrying about what happened to her that was nothing compared to seeing her with a gun to her head.

It was her quick thinking that saved her not him. On the chopper from that distance he couldn't shoot accurately. If Deakins had pushed her off the train there would have been nothing for him to do but watch and avenge. Instead she climbed onto the side of the train out of the line of fire for either side, but not to safety. Somehow even though he was getting her shot at, she smiled at him. "Okay, you can come." He liked her smile.

And where had she gotten the gun? They got cornered at the end of the train and the gun she stowed in the back of her pants was the only thing that saved them. The same gun she was now clutching in her hands. The wind was whipping by the train. It was too loud to say anything instead he pulled her just smidge closer to him.

...x...

The moment she was dragged off the train she was ready to fight. All it took was recognizing the grey flight suit and a familiar voice hushing her. He had to put his lips very close to her ear for her to understand him. In the end she felt his meaning more than hearing him. He pulled her close. She knew it was because of the narrow platform. But it felt nice to be close to him—to feel that he was okay after thinking only moments before that he was dead.

Deakins words were almost humorous if it weren't for the horrific situation they were still in. He thought Hale was weak. He thought Hale would run. He thought wrong. He'd been wrong from the beginning.

She tilted her head, half-listening to the yelling above her. She had suggested they go for a phone when they'd found the weapons the first time. He didn't want to lose them if they made it to the river. He was going to come up with something—by himself. He had told her to go, but accepted it when she came along. "Okay, you can come."

She was ashamed to admit that she let Deakins' words get to her for a moment. When she was in the box car with the warhead, she thought Hale might not come. Of course, she knew he wasn't coming for her. He was coming to retrieve the weapon and take care of the major. But it was nice that he came and he saved her. They worked well together.

Overhead the helicopter exploded. Heat blasted from the explosion to even where they hid beneath the car. Men screamed as they were caught in the explosion and thrown off. Terry covered her face with her hands. And felt Hale shifted behind her. She imagined that he pulled her closer as his hand shifted on her waist.

Deakins and the crew cut were barely loud enough. They still wanted Hale. It was a man thing Terry was certain. Why else would Deakins care about him at this point? She tried to look back at him, but there wasn't enough room. There wasn't enough time either Terry reason. The nuke was still on the train and armed for all they know. Plus Deakins was crazy. Terry had found that out rather quickly. She still shivered slightly remembering the nuke in the mine.

...x...

When he heard them climbing up the ladder on the next car, Hale peeked his head out just enough to watch Kelly disappear over the boxcar. He crawled out first and turned to help Terry but she had already climbed up around the side. He wasn't really surprised and gave her a final hand up.

He turned thinking about what they could do. Even with all of Deakin's men they had disabled and the chopper blown to pieces, Deakins still had the nuke and the train was still tracking towards Denver. They could at least keep the device from Denver.

"Oh, God. your shoulder," Terry interrupted his thoughts. The throbbing along his left side had dulled some. But after scrapping half his body along the metal tracks, he wasn't sure what condition his shoulder was in.

He struggled to remove his vest. "Help me off with this."

"Oh, God," Terry repeated as her small hands helped him remove the layers until his shoulder was freed. He tried not to smile. It wasn't that bad considering. She was worried about him. He liked that she was worried.

But there was still the ever present nuclear weapon situation. "No matter happens, this train can't make it to the city." He couldn't be in two places at once. If he went after Deakins and lost at least the damage would be as minimal as they could manage. "So you stay here and uncouple the car." Her eyes widened just slight. Maybe she was surprised he trusted her. Maybe she knew what he was doing. Either way her expression settled into a calm confidence. She would do as he asked. "I'm going to go after Deakins." And then she frowned.

He stepped over the gap and grabbed onto the ladder along the boxcar. His focus really should have been on find the nuke, stopping Deakins, saving lives.

Instead he turned to look back at her. Offering her a condolence, a promise that he couldn't guarantee, he told her, "I'll see you soon."

"You promise?" Her eye were bluer than blue as she half smiled over at him. She didn't tell him to be safe or come back or any of that nonsense.

Hale simply nodded; his half smile matching hers. There was a very real possibility that he was going to die. But she'd make sure the cars were separated. She'd be safe, he reasoned.

...x...

Jumping from a burning train car into a field wasn't the easiest thing Terry had ever done. But at least the train had been stopped. She rolled through the grass and ran as far from the train as she could manage before she heard the explosion behind her. It wasn't dissimilar to the chopper explosion. She considered that a nuclear explosion would probably be different.

She turned around and saw the train even more aflame than when she jumped. Had Hale been onboard when they'd hit? Terry ran through the events. Was there something she could have done to stop the collision? The conductor had been shooting at her. She fired blindly. There was no way she could have known he would hit the brakes.

Turning back Terry ran for the train. Maybe she could find something. She didn't even know if the weapon was disarmed. Would it go off after such an explosion? By the time she got there she found Hale searching through the rubble. She could tell by his relaxed pose that all was well. The tension was gone from his shoulders.

"Sir, please turn around."

He paused, stiffening for a moment, but when he turned he was smiling.

...x...

She was alive, unharmed and smiling as she came to him without pause. He ached all over from the longest day of his life that ended with a knuckles-to-knuckles fight to the death with his best friend. But she wrapped her arms around him, careful of his bad shoulder, and he didn't feel so tired. He didn't ache as much.

Her hand pressed to his chest then his jaw as she reassured herself he was okay. He let her; he relished in it. Because as she convinced herself, she convinced him. For a terrifying moment as he saw the helicopter's car in flames, Hale thought she might have been hurt. She might be dead. But here she was in his arms, looking at him like she couldn't believe he was actually there.

Her smile was huge and infectious. He found himself smiling back at her. It was strange how much she affected him in so short a time. And they'd done so much together. She did so much for him. That was when he realized. "My name's Riley Hale."

"Terry Carmicheal," she returned without questioning him and offered her his hand.

He took her hand. "Please to meet you." Instead of really shaking her hand, he turned his wrist to wrap his fingers around her thumb and pulled her hand to his chest. He had a strange need to keep her as close to him as possible, even though they were the only people for miles.

"You know, you're still under arrest, captain."

"Oh, yeah? I guess you better take me in." He chuckled. Part him liked that idea. They were in the middle of nowhere Colorado. He was standing right next to her, but reality was pressing around him. Terry was a park ranger in Utah. He was an Air Force Captain based in Missouri. And he didn't want to let her out of his sight. Then again he didn't know how long it would take for anyone to find them. They had this time at least. Hale didn't intend to waste any more of it worrying about what was going to happen next.


End file.
